The role of Britain in West German foreign policy since 1949¹

This is a revised version of a paper given to the ASGP Conference in April 1995. I am grateful to William Paterson and other participants at that conference for their comments.

Abstract

Anglo‐German relations since 1949 have been a curious mixture of harmony and tension. This paper looks at the reasons both for cooperation and conflict and some of the ways in which German perceptions of Britain have changed since 1949. Attitudes to security, economic integration and political identity produced a complex pattern, where each side at times had unrealistic expectations of the other. Recently published documents from the Auswärtiges Amt for 1963–64 give an insight into the ‘official mind’ of German foreign policy at a critical moment.

Notes

This is a revised version of a paper given to the ASGP Conference in April 1995. I am grateful to William Paterson and other participants at that conference for their comments.